Gin and hand sanitiser - supporting local areas together.

Gin and hand sanitiser are not something you would ordinarily put together but when the world stopped our local suppliers, Bottomley Distillers, took on the task of making both.

Bottomley Distillers Ltd was founded in 2016 in the market town of Louth. Alan revisited a skill learnt from his father, the original Mr Bottomley who distilled whisky in the 1950s.

When Alan and co-founder Amy Conyard decided to revisit the craft, Pin Gin was born and we're proud to say they are one of our Love Local 💚 suppliers, who's products can be found in our food stores.

The distillery is now open for unique experiences and they even have their very own gin school, where distilling your own spirit is the highlight.

Having lost around 80% of their turnover at the beginning of lockdown, they continued to distil their gin but also started a two sided project to make hand sanitiser - part of which could be sold commercially and the other part donated to local causes. This new line of work meant that none of their employees were put on furlough, in fact they went on to employ two more as demand for the sanitiser increased.

Amy commented:

The feeling will never get old when we see the gins on the back of the shelf and the sanitiser there that we know has helped keep those staff safe and keep the customers safe as well.
We're really, really proud to be in the Co-op and we're proud to work and hopefully continue working with them

Check out our behind-the-scenes video with co-founder Amy, to see how they've been getting on: